Previous Season Ultimate Gifts

[Berry]

It really stings seeing all of the awesome stuff i missed out on because i didn't even know the game existed, hopefully they bring them back in some form for us PC players that just discovered the game. I would have bought every season pass had i known of this game beforehand.

[Tim Drake's Depression]

This should be a thing. I want the devs to bring back ultimate gifts, maybe during special occasions like holidays or New Years. I understand that event items are supposed to be limited, but when you can get everything from everyone but the guides... it doesn't feel nice. Plus, in a game like Sky I think it's genuinely unfair for new players and returning ones. I want the Manta projector from the Remembrance Guide, damn it!

I'd be okay with them being IAPs, even. I can accept that. I hope that, with Sky definitely growing on PC (So many Moths in Forest...) the devs will consider this possibility.

(also would love a Free Realms-esque housing system as Sky is perfect for one, but that's unrelated-)

[[They/Them] ChesseTheWasp]

the devs should never bring back ultimate gifts in any form. thats the point of them is that only the people who played during that season have them. most of them aren't even that good.

[Berry]

Originally posted by They/Them ChesseTheWasp:

the devs should never bring back ultimate gifts in any form. thats the point of them is that only the people who played during that season have them. most of them aren't even that good.

It doesn't feel good though when i play the game, see a really cool hairstyle that i want, and later find out i can't get it because it was an ultimate gift. It removes a lot of the excitement of playing the game when that happens more often than not. Especially in a game that advertises itself as being cozy.

I don't mind if they keep the special necklaces you get for buying the season passes exclusive, as a token to show people that you were in fact there when the season first came out. But a lot of the ultimate items have genuine uses that feel sour to miss out on. So i hope they make them come back.

[Tim Drake's Depression]

Originally posted by They/Them ChesseTheWasp:

the devs should never bring back ultimate gifts in any form. thats the point of them is that only the people who played during that season have them. most of them aren't even that good.

I understand your point of view, but in most other games items akin to ultimate gifts are easy to replace, think insanely good rare raid drops from any number of games out there that could easily overshadow any special limited items from events and such. Sky is vastly different on that front as each one is unique regardless of if they're good or not, and the game itself is very chill without much objective outside of the events and seasons after you bead Eden that first time.
Having things of that rarity paired with the type of game Sky is and how available other seasonal things are feels genuinely unfair, and not like some games where it's like "Oh, this happened before I joined? Oh well, too bad."

I don't even like using the ultimate items and cosmetics I have even though I'm still very happy I have them because it's just unfair to me. Bringing them back would be a good move in Sky, unlike other games where it'd be looked down upon. Besides, I've spoken to loads of people who want ultimate gifts to return somehow. I think that's proof enough of it being something that should happen.

[MOLN]

I agree. A "wholesome game" like Sky should never even consider having any exclusive or permanently missable content. Because dviding players into higher class and lower class ones (and exclusivity of content does exactly that) makes the game not-so-wholesome.

[Hey Texas]

I do not understand the people who claim we played during that season and earned the item and only we can have it. At default you can’t see other players in the game until you both make eachother visible to eachother, or become friends. And everyone has their own type anyway. This game is good for what it is, but the fact is there REALLY isn’t much to do in the game beyond socializing. You have candle running, Eden runs, daily quests, completing your constellations, music instruments and chatting with others. This game is horrible for FOMO to be honest.

It’s beyond annoying to repeatedly hear “this item will never return” and some veteran players who are incredibly rude to newer players who complain about that fact. In my own case I found the game after seeing a little Prince video on YouTube and being a huge fan of the book, I immediately downloaded the game to play. Then I found out you can do the quest, but the items will “never come back.”

This game is about collecting as many outfits etc as possible. There’s really not much else.

[Traltwin]

I wouldn't mind if they recolored/re-textured things so they'd be unique if they bring back anything, that way the originals will still have their own thing.

[TheShadowHatter]

Honestly I could care less. My main concern with the game is how boring it gets really fast. After you beat the game once, the gameplay loop of running after candles and revisiting spirits to chase around a light or an annoying escort quest gets really old really fast. They need to add more gameplay to this game and more areas to explore first and foremost.

I do agree that exclusive cosmetics in a game where you can't see anyone until you interact with them is pretty annoying and silly, but honestly it's at the bottom of my list of priorities when it comes to making Sky a better game than it is now. Also I wish they'd just do a dye system in the game already as that, to me, is why some of these cosmetics aren't even good. The ones I REALLY want have cool designs but a color I don't want and vice versa and that just makes it annoying to look for cosmetics for my character because it feels limited.

[Space Child]

I hope they'll bring them back. I really want owl hair myself. But not sure if I'm even going to be playing this game in couple years so in that sense it probably wouldn't even matter for me.

I always dislike these live service games having exclusive time restricted things, because it's unfair for new players who weren't interested in the game before and it can make it harder to jump into game because you know there's stuff you can't even get.

I understand veteran point of view to feel special because you have that stuff and others won't be able to get it but isn't that kind of jerk mentality to have especially in game like Sky?

[Meowish]

Originally posted by Kona-chan:

I understand veteran point of view to feel special because you have that stuff and others won't be able to get it but isn't that kind of jerk mentality to have especially in game like Sky?

Well, lets drop the self centered point of view from our own selves and change the view point to the developer. Exclusive limited items promote irrational buying and that's how they do business and keep themselves fed. And they do it under the pretty decorated title saying it's for those who are there to support them at that very moment, and it guarantees and motive the devs to make more stuffs in the future for more sales. And with these kind of updates, you will sooner or later find this game full of similar looking cosmetic that it doesn't matter much to you anymore. Especially if you check back later and compare them with your screenshots in the past, you'll go, eek why do i feel it's good looking back then? it's soo bland! Due to there's always "better looking" and "better design" every now and then and the older ones gets forgotten or buried under the tons of new cosmetics, the devs managed to make a culture to go after whatever that's new in the store, even when they don't really look good at all.

Yes, it's not healthy for the consumer, but it's a healthy business practice on the seller's point of view. If you are smart enough not to fall for it, yes, you will feel that "unfair" thing and not wanting to play this game more, it's your instinct and experience from the past that tells you this isn't the game for you no matter how pretty they decorate it with rainbows and pretty colors. Listen to your inner instinct and keep your wallet safe is the advice. If you can't hold back and would want to buy everything in the game, again, it's your money and if you are wealthy enough to put up an imbalance spending habit, you earn those money fair and square, no one can tell you how you spend it. But just a friendly advice here, buying the season pass doesn't get you the cosmetics, you still need to work and grind daily to get them, which tied you to the game for the rest of the season, yes... time commitment required after payment. If you are a casual player, it actually spoils the fun more than adding to it, it's like you paid up to do a job for someone, losing both money and time to it.

In short, this is a fairly short game one can complete in less than 10 hours total play time. No particular grind other than you need to collect the tokens just for a different look (it's hard to say it's better looking to be honest, and definitely not the best). If you don't want that 2nd rate citizenship type of design, unfortunately it's there in all online games out there to promote competition and vanity competing to "create demand" for more sales, typical business basic. But know that at least you get to finish this game and move on to the next without being forced to grind those cosmetics, the game play part is not locked behind a grind wall unlike other MMORPG.

[hugdealer]

for a game about friendship that's super chill it really goes against the vibe imho.

it should be more like players who have some hard to get item can help others obtain it.

FOMO doesn't really help me consider spending time or money on this.
it also feels like a cheesy way to force logins for active player numbers, a lot of games do this with daily quests or whatever. just add interesting content to keep people coming back, not some limited time cosmetic.

game should just revolve around people hanging out and having fun, sharing things.
but hey I didn't make it *shrug*

would be a lot more interesting if this game was just about relaxing. it would really stand out as something unique

[Meowish]

Originally posted by hugdealer:

for a game about friendship that's super chill it really goes against the vibe imho.

it should be more like players who have some hard to get item can help others obtain it.

FOMO doesn't really help me consider spending time or money on this.
it also feels like a cheesy way to force logins for active player numbers, a lot of games do this with daily quests or whatever. just add interesting content to keep people coming back, not some limited time cosmetic.

game should just revolve around people hanging out and having fun, sharing things.
but hey I didn't make it *shrug*

would be a lot more interesting if this game was just about relaxing. it would really stand out as something unique

It's not easy to build an economy that sustain an online game maintenance cost and pay the devs that are working on delivering contents constantly to the players. Monthly wages and Salaries needs to be paid, fees for servers and internet cost money as well. So 100% relaxing game could be super challenging, it's doable, but not feasible to most companies. And topping it up with human greed when they see the cash could badly effect some decisions.

Let's put the successful example (lecture) from developers who made and maintain free to play games with millions of players. (Few thousands times more than Sky population)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHC-uGDbu7s
As you can see (learn) from the video, Sky isn't on the successful track nor is it creating a good user happiness balances in the game right now. (Sadly, They take advice from Sony, not Valve.)
But one thing we can be sure is, game devs and marketing research team will be sitting in the same room arguing how to make more money every once in awhile, while devs might want to keep the game clean from such bad practices but the marketing team will be showing them charts that they won't be able to get their next meal if they don't do it... game world do not come into existence without involvement from both of these guys.

But that doesn't mean such game you described doesn't exist, it's just rare and require the dev to get money elsewhere to generate income to support the game server and maintain it, normally this ended up in very simplified design that doesn't need a large server to handle. Example:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1070710/Kind_Words_lo_fi_chill_beats_to_write_to/
If you just want a relaxing online stranger meeting game where you chill out with others. This one might suits your taste 100%, it's relaxing and no Krill is out and about to hunt you, nor the rain is harmful...